Homeschooling in Orange County

There are many different forms of education. There is the traditional public and private school, overseas boarding schools, or domestic boarding schools, and even homeschooling.

Unlike how some of us may remember homeschooling, technology has made it more accessible than ever to families who opt to homeschool their children, and there many more benefits than there have ever been before.

Why Homeschool?

There are many reasons why a parent may opt to homeschool their children. One of the most common is the children have more serious obligations than other children might. These students may be studying to be professional dancer, ice skaters, actors and actresses or they even be training everyday hours a day to one day be an Olympic athlete.

Another common reason is a more personal one. Many feel homeschooling their children will help the child work as quickly or as slowly as the child needs to succeed. We all learn at different rates, and homeschooling is one of the few ways students can work at their own pace.

“I timidly attended home school parent meeting last spring. Surprisingly, it was full of doctors, lawyers, former public school teachers and other professionals. These were not the stay-at-home-moms in long skirts that I expected. The face of homeschooling is changing. We are not all religious extremists or farmers, and our kids are not all overachieving academic nerds without social skills.”

“I can let [my child] work at the perfect grade level. This way I can keep things challenging and interesting but not overwhelming.”

When Homeschool Gets Tough

Group Projects

Because your child makes his or her own schedule, so do other homeschooling students. This may make it difficult to collaborate on group projects. Yes, there are group projects, even if there are only four or five students in a class. One reason why some parents opt to home school their children is for convenience.

Some students may have practice, meets at different times, or they may even be traveling in a different time zone. Online teachers have set lecture times, which are (or SHOULD be) recorded for students who miss the session. Many teachers collaborate with their students at the beginning of the term to find the time that best fits all schedules. If your child misses a session and needs to watch the taped session, what does he or she do when there’s a question? We already know everyone learns differently. Who is there to help your child now?

No One-on-One Time

Another difficulty home schooled kids may face is not understand the teacher’s lectures. “Raising your hand” is tough in a physical classroom, but it is even tougher in an online class. You need to type it out in the chat box, “Wait! Hold on! I don’t get it!” and if everyone else but your child gets it, the teacher may just ask your child to stay after—which takes up time, which is not why you home school your child.

I have mentioned each student has the benefit of working at his or her own pace—but what if your child begins to fall behind? Now this no longer benefits your child. This is when you may need to take over as a teacher, or you need to hire a professional tutor to help your child get through this tough time.

As a private tutor for homeschooling students, I have not just had complaints about the teacher not actually teaching, but I have witnessed it. There are good teachers and bad teachers, but there can always be help for your child.

Why the negatives? Because when parents are seeking out help beyond their child’s school, there’s already a problem, so let’s cover all the negatives and how we can work together to make sure your child gets the most out of his or her online schooling program.